Spontaneous Combustion
by astarte-lydianna
Summary: Hermione has a problem that she can't solve, Ron just isn't doing it for her! No amount of self help books in the art of love seem to be helping but when Draco Malfoy gets wind of her problem he decides to show her the ropes...slight BDSM themes, Draco/Hermione
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: Hi everyone! I know some of you will have seen this story before, I originally put it on a seperate account but you know what...I kept forgetting about it over there so I thought I'd just go through it and pop it up here instead! Some bits will be true to books, others not. So...I hope you enjoy it. As the first several chapters are already written and have been posted previously I will be reading them through to check for any obvious errors and then posting them as quickly as I can. I will most likely have at least another one or two chapters up today. Also in case any of you are following my other unfinished stories and thinking I've abandoned them for yet another new one I will reiterate that this is an existing story previously posted on another account not a new one and I do hope to find the time to finish all my unfinished stories at some point.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the books, films, characters or any other recognisable parts of the fandom nor do I make any money from this. My writings are purely for my own and hopefully your enjoyment so please feel free to review as well

Spontaneous Combustion

Prologue: The Problem with Hermione...

Hermione Granger had a problem, and usually solving problems was her thing. Anything that challenged her brain, anything that required logic but this time her problem wasn't really something she could research.

The second wizarding war had shaken the wizarding world in ways none of them could have ever predicted; the ministry had specialist teams now working on wizard and muggle relations! After centuries the wizarding world was considering revealing itself but of course not yet and not before much serious consideration but the fact that it was even brought up was a huge step towards breaking down blood prejudice. Hermione like many others had returned to Hogwarts, some of the students had to repeat the previous year, others chose to take their NEWTS early if they thought they could pass so that they could get on with their lives elsewhere. Hermione did both.

She had taken her NEWTS when offered and passed of course although she would always wonder if her current status in the "Golden Trio" had anything to do with that but unfortunately there wasn't really a way of knowing for sure. Then after discussing her plans for the future with the remaining order members that were now friends and family to her after everything they'd been through she was give an offer she couldn't refuse.

Hermione was returning to apprentice for a position as Charms Mistress and she couldn't be more excited, especially since she wouldn't be the only student returning to apprentice. There would also be a potions and transfiguration apprentice although she didn't know who would be filling those positions yet, they were going to be students from her year so she would almost certainly know them. The biggest surprise to the staff for the reopening of Hogwarts was that Minerva McGonagall had hired Professor Lupin back for at least one year. Remus had been hesitant not wanting to spend much time apart from his wife who currently lay in St Mungos indefinitely but the older woman had managed to convince him that something to keep his mind occupied would be good for him and he would still have plenty of time to visit her and spend time with his son who spent most of his time at the Burrow as Molly was enjoying an excuse to coddle someone and insisted that since she was home all day anyway she could look after Teddy perfectly well for Remus while he worked.

Minerva had taken over the role of Headmistress at Hogwarts and as such needed to find a transfiguration teacher to replace her as soon as possible, so far she had found a temporary replacement from abroad that would stay for the duration of one year to train an apprentice. With Professor Snape gone Horace Slughorn had agreed to also join the staff for another year in order to train a replacement, and finally whilst Professor Flitwick who was not currently planning on retiring was going to be the deputy Headmaster therefore taking on more duties as well as being the Head of Ravenclaw house, his apprentice: herself, would be helping to take some of his classes as well as occasionally being a substitute for Professor Lupin during certain times of the month.

Hermione was thrilled to have been offered an apprentice position, also since she had more than a year to complete her apprenticeship she was able to study for her wizarding degree at the same time which didn't come as a surprise to anyone since Hermione Granger dubbed "the brightest witch of her age" always excelled academically, nothing was too much for her brain...

Although actually it was, she now had a problem she couldn't solve and no amount of reading about the subject in books appeared to be helping either. After the war she and Ron had become a couple officially, the catch was there wasn't a spark. Once the heat of the battle was over that spark had gone, although it took her a while to notice because she did care about him. Of course she cared about him; he was one of the most important people in her life and she would've love for their relationship to work out but unfortunately...it wasn't. There was no thrill to their kisses and she didn't seem to be able to get turned on when they tried anything further...Ronald Weasley just wasn't doing it for her.

She had tried everything she could think of, she had read books for further ideas. They had tried extensive amounts of foreplay; she had tried aphrodisiacs but only the milder kinds. She wanted her lust to be because it was hers; not created falsely by a potion, she knew there were potions that could make her lust after him but it wouldn't be real and that didn't solve the long-term problem. She didn't happen to fancy anyone else currently either, so it wasn't that and they'd tried every romantic setting she could imagine. She'd tried lingerie to make her feel sexier and put her in the mood and instead had just felt self conscious and awkward. She'd tried reading erotic books both wizard and muggle kinds to inspire her and get her in the mood and even though some did just that, once she and Ron got started her desire would taper off. All in all she was getting a little bit disheartened that she could make her relationship with Ron work if she couldn't be attracted to him in that way. It wasn't that she found him unattractive and she was pretty sure she fancied him still but when it came to the bedroom department everything went flat.

So for the moment she was resorting to doing the job herself when she got overly frustrated and keeping it a secret from Ron, after all it was embarrassing enough that no matter what he did she couldn't get excited by him but for him to find out that she was pleasuring herself when she was alone in bed was beyond humiliating for her. Well...not to her personally, after all she was fairly certain most people did it every now and then but it would be horrid to talk about it, for someone to know about it!

Although if she was honest it usually took quite a lot of effort to pleasure herself so it was no wonder than Ron struggled...she considered that perhaps there was something wrong with her physically but since she was able to pleasure herself even though it did take a long time she decided that the problem probably wasn't a physical one. So what was the problem? Was she simply very high maintenance in that department?

She was still pondering this as she made her way to the Headmistress' office only to have her thoughts brought to an abrupt halt once spotting the two other people in the office with Minerva McGonagall.

"Miss Granger I was wondering if you'd received my message." The older witch said as Hermione entered the room. "Please take a seat Hermione."

"Sorry, I only received it a few moments ago I hadn't been to my room yet and it was there waiting for me." Hermione said sleepishly.

"Lost in the library no doubt." The familiar blonde snorted slightly, earning a narrow eyed look from the headmistress and Hermione herself. She assumed that since she was here to discuss her apprenticeship that the two other students in the room were the apprentices for the other two positions. Draco Malfoy was a surprise, she knew he was intelligent but with his reputation currently still being as colourful as it was it was a shock that he would be working in a classroom. No questions about it though he must be the potions apprentice. The other surprise was Luna Lovegood, wasn't she still supposed to be a student?

Minerva sat them down and explained their schedules and the rules, which would and wouldn't apply to them as they were still technically students but also members of staff so fell into an almost in-between status. Afterwards Hermione took the chance to quiz Luna on her position as they headed to the great hall for something to eat.

"I took a few of my NEWT's early to be able to take the position, I still have some NEWT classes to attend but I have enough free sessions to take on the position and one of the NEWT exams I took early was transfiguration. I'm not allowed to take a class without another Professor supervising me until after December though when I turn seventeen that was the Ministry Education Boards only other stipulation." Luna explained. Hermione didn't know why she was so surprised, after all Luna was a Ravenclaw so she was bound to be intelligent but she still frowned over the fact that Luna had been allowed to take some of her NEWT's early and she had not. "They made a special exception in allowing me to even sit some my NEWT's early so that I could take the job and that was only because Professor McGonagall insisted that she couldn't think of anyone else she wanted to take the position." Luna supplied as if sensing what was bothering her.

"That's great Luna, congratulations." She smiled.

"To you as well, I hear you're doing your wizarding degree at the same time? That's really quite impressive." Luna smiled back. "It'll be nice having a friend doing an apprenticeship as well and we'll get to be Professor's here together, plus I'll still have a few lessons with Ginny a week."

"I can't believe that after everything I still have to face Draco Malfoy every day." Hermione sighed. "I mean I know he wasn't as evil as we all thought but still he wasn't nice to us either...least of all me." She shuddered thinking about Draco and his father watching on as she was tortured. He did nothing to stop his Aunt carving her arm up in his house. She tugged her sleeve down self consciously, as if to make sure every inch of her arm was covered when she knew the scar was higher up than her wrist and wouldn't be on display. Draco Malfoy may have been given a second chance but she wouldn't ever be able to forget the years of hexes and insults he had thrown her way.

Author's notes: short I know but I'm currently juggling a toddler and an 11 day old baby so you'll have to bear with me for the moment. Also please note to all American readers I am writing this in British English not American English so if you're sat their thinking I keep spelling words wrong just bear that in mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: OK, so most of this was typed one handed while breastfeeding my new daughter to try and get this story rolling while the ideas are in my head so please forgive me if I'm not at my best. Hopefully thanks to my beta JenJenSon you won't be able to tell how badly affected my brain is from lack of sleep!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the books, films, characters or any other recognisable parts of the fandom nor do I make any money from this. My writings are purely for my own and hopefully your enjoyment so please feel free to review as well

Spontaneous Combustion

Chapter One: Admitting one's faults...

It was only a week before the students would be arriving at the school and Hermione was taking her chance to explore the restricted section while no one was around. She could probably get permission to peruse the restricted section if she asked but she didn't really want to ask for permission to browse the restricted section for any information she could find on sex.

The closest thing to it in the normal Hogwarts sections were brief overviews of love potions and contraception potions and spells so she was hopeful that she could find _something_ in the restricted section. The first books she found were more love potions and some lust potions that she'd already tried or eliminated if they were too strong, then there were more contraceptives and books about dark arts practises where they could make a woman's cycle change to make conception a guarantee if the male was fertile and practises to make a woman permanently infertile. She quickly turned the page from the illustrations of a poor witch being pinned down to be made forcibly infertile to make her an adequate plaything.

Finally she found a book that looked more promising, "The Magical Art of Sex and Sex related charms and potions". That definitely sounded more like what she was looking for. She quickly opened her bag and tucked it inside before making a swift retreat from the library and headed back to her room.

After returning to her room Hermione dutifully composed her letter to the Burrow to update them on her first week and reassure Molly that she was eating enough, Ginny that she would keep in touch with any and all gossip and Ron and Harry that she missed them. This was followed by her doing some of her coursework for her wizarding degree until dinnertime.

The Great Hall was nearly empty so people were sat in random small groups throughout, mostly it was the staff table that was full but there was the occasional student, presumably the ones with no parents or home to return to after the events of last year. Hermione went and took a seat besides Luna who sat alone at the top of the Ravenclaw table. The two spent the mealtime comparing notes on their NEWTs and filling each other in on any recent gossip that they had missed out earlier. Hermione found that despite the blonde's near constant dreamlike state she did in fact make for very interesting and intelligent conversation.

Finally Hermione found herself back in her room for the evening. She sat on her bed and opened her borrowed book to browse the contents. The first section mainly explained the act of sexual intercourse in an almost medical way; this wasn't what she was looking for. The next section was dedicated purely to orgasms, both male and female which she made a mental note to read since although that wasn't strictly her problem at the moment it was the overall destination, this was followed by a section on self pleasure for witches and wizards respectively...not exactly what she was after but it could still be useful. The sections that followed were how do guides for foreplay on both wizards and witches manual and oral, again not really the part she needed to find right now. A section on the act of sex followed that and the last few sections compromised of; contraceptive charms and potions for witches and wizards, sex spells that really work, potions to fix your bedroom bothers and lastly sexual rituals in the magical world.

She decided that at least this book should have something helpful and perhaps she should take some notes for future reference. After all she couldn't keep the book for long in case someone noticed that it wasn't in the library. Hermione got some parchment and a quill to copy down anything useful for future reference and dived in at the very beginning of the book, perhaps starting from a medical angle and working her way up to the rest was the best plan. So Hermione did what Hermione did best, she read.

Imagine her surprise when she was awoken the next morning by someone knocking on her door. Leaping out of bed to make herself decent she hurried to answer the impatient knocking.

"Hey babes, surprise." Ron greeted her as she opened the door.

"Ron!" she gasped in surprise, moving to the side to allow him in. "You surprised me." He leant over and kissed her, making it obvious he would have wanted more had she not hurriedly stepped back. "Just let me freshen up a bit, morning breath." She grabbed some clothes hanging over the back of her desk chair and some clean underwear from her chest of draws and darted to the en suite bathroom and hurriedly got freshened up.

When she returned to her room she froze upon finding Ron flicking through the book she had been reading last night and immediately flushed, cursing herself internally for not remembering to hide it before answering the door.

"Wow 'Mione, I didn't realise you were this keen...maybe we should try some of these right now?" he said suggestively, placing the book down and approaching her. Hermione let him embrace her, let him kiss her; kissing was good. She did care about Ron and this was nice...it just wasn't earth shattering. All the while they were making out she was fine but it was when things started to go further that her lack of passion became a problem.

Ron's hands gripped her waist, fisting in her top and tugging her with him towards the bed, she wound her arms tighter round his neck as they moved keeping them fused together at the lips. Then just as she was beginning to dread any further actions her door knocked again.

"Leave it 'Mione" Ron mumbled against her lips.

"Ronald!" she tutted, disentangling herself from him. "They're at my door I can't just ignore it!"

"Hey Granger!" Malfoy's voice called from the other side. "I know you're still in there!"

"See!" Hermione gestured to the door. "I'm most certainly not going to be able to enjoy myself in here with Draco Malfoy on the other side of the door shouting at me." Ron sighed and sat down on the bed while Hermione picked up her book and took the chance to hide it quickly before answering the door.

She swung the door open to face a smirking blonde, noticing that he was staring at her rather ruffled appearance she quickly pulled the door shut so that only her head stuck out. She cursed herself for not noticing sooner, her top had dropped off one shoulder hanging low enough for the top of her left bra cup to be visible and it had ridden up to expose most of her stomach so all in all she looked like she'd been busy shagging before coming to the door.

"Busy morning Granger?" he asked.

"Can I help you?" she asked, ignoring his question.

"Well, it was nice of you to offer but we're needed elsewhere." He replied. Hermione just glared at him in response. "McGonagall wants us in the Hospital Wing."

"Hospital Wing?" she asked, dropping her short tone immediately. "Is someone hurt?"

"Well, if you make yourself decent we can go and find out can't we." He replied impatiently.

"Two seconds." She replied, quickly shutting the door to straighten her clothes and check in a mirror to make sure she was decent. "Sorry, Professor McGonagall needs me in the Hospital Wing. I'll owl you, OK?" She pecked him on the lips and then dragged him out of the door with her. She didn't really want to leave him in her rooms alone with that book...he might get ideas. Draco raised an eyebrow but said nothing for a change as he and Hermione headed in the opposite direction leaving Ron stood outside the entrance to her room and Hermione only offering him a quick wave as they left.

"Go on, I know you're going to say something insulting so out with it now." She sighed.

"Actually...well; I'm not sure whether to be repulsed at the thought of you and Weaslebee or impressed that you of all people had a boy hidden in your room." He smirked.

"We weren't doing what you think we were." She replied primly. "Not that it's any of your business anyway."

"It's my business when I end up seeing you half dressed as a result." He snorted.

"Half dressed? Come one Malfoy that wasn't half dressed, I was fully dressed just a bit...scruffy." she said defensively. "Did Professor McGonagall say what she wanted at all? No hints?"

"We're nearly there, you can ask her yourself." He muttered. Clearly their almost pleasant, though somewhat embarrassing banter was over and they were back to barely tolerating each other again.

On reaching the Hospital Wing Hermione's concerns were put to rest, no one was injured. Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall were waiting for them in Madam Pomfrey's office and all the beds remained empty.

"Ah, marvellous!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, as they arrived.

"Good Morning, Mr Malfoy, Miss Granger." The Headmistress greeted them.

"Good morning Professor." Hermione replied politely.

"I have a favour to ask of you both." The older witch said, leading the way from the office into a store room. The store room was full of boxes and crates, the shelves however were practically bare. "As I'm sure you can see, recent events have left our medical supplies in need of replacing. Madam Pomfrey has acquired many of the new supplies as you can see. Bandages and splints are affordable enough but readily made potions are expensive. Therefore she was only able to buy a small supply of each of the necessary potions we need. Being apprentices rather than students and having been the top two students in your potions class we were hoping you would be able to spare some time to brew some of the necessary potions. The potions store cupboards are still very full so you should have most of the ingredients you need to get started and buying ingredients to brew the potions is considerably cheaper than the potions themselves so if there are ingredients missing we would be able to get them for you of course."

"Of course I'd love to help. I'm already brewing the wolf's bane for Professor Lupin so it wouldn't be much trouble." Hermione replied automatically.

"Why both of us? Hermione isn't even a potions apprentice." Draco asked.

"Because there are a lot of potions needed, both of you have your own work to do already so sharing the load will be easiest Mr Malfoy." The Headmistress told him matter of factly. "I'm confident that after everything you've both been through working together will not be a problem."

"No, Professor." Hermione said quickly, cutting off what was sure to have been some snide comment from Draco's open mouth. "Or at least...I'm sure we could split the list down the middle and work out a schedule or something."

By the time they left with a list of potions in hand Draco was looking incredibly fed up. Hermione was delighted to be able to help but not overly looking forward to any more time with Draco Malfoy than necessary. Still if they worked out a schedule and split the list down the middle they could try to avoid each other as much as possible.

"Why couldn't you have either just said no or offered to do the lot?" Draco demanded as they left.

"Why didn't you?" Hermione countered. "It's not like we're going to have to be best friends Malfoy!"

"Thank Merlin for that!" Draco huffed.

"Look, how about we each pick a potion or two to start with and then take turns to use the brewing space so that we don't have to see each other?" she suggested.

"Fine with me." He agreed, snatching the list. "I'll start with the top two then."

"Alright, and I'll do the next two down. Did you want to start today or shall I?" she asked. "Well...actually we'd better check that all the ingredients for these are actually there first hadn't we?"

"Whatever." Draco replied. "Can we hurry it up though because I'd like to spend some time with people I actually like today?"

The two made their way down to the potions stores and after some quick assessments decided they were only missing a handful of ingredients, so Hermione wrote down a small list of what was needed.

"If that's all, then I'll leave you to it." Draco announced the second they were done. "I have better things to do than spend my day in a grubby cupboard with you. Later Granger." With that, he left.

His comment hadn't been an innuendo at all but Hermione for some bizarre reason flushed at the thought of her and Draco in the cupboard...then again getting down and dirty in a cupboard of any kind, with anyone was embarrassing enough...let alone in a potions store cupboard in the dungeons with a Slytherin! It was just so wrong!

It was the evening meal by the time Hermione reappeared from the potions classroom and cupboards. She'd spent most of the day brewing her potions, one of which was finished and now filled several vials on the infirmary shelves and the other required being left overnight before the finishing touches and bottling.

"Good evening Hermione." Luna smiled, as she took a seat next to Hermione. "Have you had a lovely day?"

"Oh it's been very productive." Hermione smiled. "I've been brewing some potions for Madam Pomfrey."

"That's nice of you." Luna smiled.

"Well, I love brewing so it's not really any trouble to do it." Hermione replied. "How has your day been?"

"It's been lovely thank you." The blonde smiled. "I went for a long walk around the grounds. I thought I'd make the most of it, it's going to rain tomorrow you know?"

"I'll remember to stay inside then." Hermione commented.

"Ron didn't look very happy this morning. I thought perhaps he couldn't find you." Luna said thoughtfully.

"No, he found me this morning but then I got called to the Hospital Wing about the potions." Hermione explained.

"He said he saw you in the morning, but he went looking for you after that I think." The younger witch replied.

"Oh...well then no, he didn't find me." Hermione told her.

"You sound relieved." Luna said.

"No, well...a little maybe." Hermione mumbled. "I was a bit busy."

"Maybe you should tell him that it isn't right?" the blonde suggested softly.

"What isn't right?" Hermione asked guiltily. Surely Luna didn't know about her and Ron's problems...how could she?

"Your relationship." Luna shrugged as if it were obvious. "You don't love him do you?"

"No," Hermione admitted quietly, "at least not in that way...I tried Luna, I really tried but it just...doesn't click. Merlin Luna, what is wrong with me? Ron is perfect for me and he's a safe bet and he cares about me and I him...why does it feel so wrong? So forced?"

"Maybe you would love someone who wasn't so safe?" the oblivious blonde suggested.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Notes: Not really anything interesting to say today so on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the books, films, characters or any other recognisable parts of the fandom nor do I make any money from this. My writings are purely for my own and hopefully your enjoyment so please feel free to review as well

Spontaneous Combustion

Chapter Two: Misplaced Reaction

"_You don't love him do you?"_

"_No," Hermione admitted quietly, "at least not in that way...I tried Luna, I really tried but it just...doesn't click. Merlin Luna, what is wrong with me? Ron is perfect for me and he's a safe bet and he cares about me and I him...why does it feel so wrong? So forced?"_

"_Maybe you would love someone who wasn't so safe?" the oblivious blonde suggested._

Not so safe? Out of all the things that Luna could have picked to say why did she pick 'not so safe'? Why not, someone who does click or someone who doesn't feel wrong? Luna was strange but she usually had a point and she was usually right, so what exactly was her point this time Hermione wondered.

She gave up trying to figure Luna out and settled into her tub, it was wonderful to have her own bathroom. Granted her tub was a lot smaller than the shared one in the prefect's bathroom and the whole room was rather small to boot but she had a sink and a toilet and a tub big enough for herself and she could probably fit two people in here if she ever _did_ have the need so she was quite happy with it.

It was quite nice to have her own room with her own en suite. Her bedroom wasn't quite the full sized living quarters that most of the actual teachers held but was still a big step up from the student's dormitories. She had a fireplace and a small sofa, two large bookcases against the wall to the left of the fireplace and a desk to the right, the other side of the room held her queen sized bed and draws and a closet for her clothes. It wasn't the red and gold that she was used to, instead it was mostly dark wood and deep purples.

Hermione sighed noticing that most of the bubbles had now disappeared from the bathtub and reached for her wand to summon her towel with a quick 'accio'. After wrapping her towel tightly around herself she crossed the room to pick up a second smaller towel to wrap her hair in. Not bothering to further dry herself or get ready for bed, as she often enjoyed doing things the muggle way; she opted instead to sprawl across her sofa with a book. Choosing a charms book that would not doubt have some interesting information that would prover useful for both her apprenticeship and her wizarding degree she rolled onto her stomach and shuffled herself into a comfortable position.

So needless to say when the door knocked about twenty minutes later she was somewhat reluctant to move. Sighing in defeat she went to the door making sure to use it as a shield for her state of dress as she opened it.

"You know if you keep knocking on my door I'm going to think you're actually starting to like me." She said, on seeing Draco Malfoy stood the other side.

"Don't tell me you're hiding someone in your rooms again Granger." He smirked, gesturing to her hiding behind the door.

"No not this evening I'm afraid but I've just gotten out of the shower and wasn't expecting any disturbances, so would you like to tell me why you're here so that you can leave?" she asked.

"Here." He said, holding out a piece of parchment to her. She carefully held her towel with one hand and reached out to take the parchment with the other. Draco raised an eyebrow at her naked arm but said nothing. "Schedule for rounds, I have Looney Lovegood's too; her rooms on this floor but I don't know which one, do you?"

"I think there was a request for help in there somewhere..." Hermione murmured dryly. "Round the corner, the door next to the painting of the unicorns."

Draco nodded his thanks, this being as close to civil and polite as he and Hermione would get and headed down the hallway. Hermione closed the door behind her and headed back to the sofa, no longer interested in her book she sat with her thoughts for a while. The war really had changed them all; their entire generation had been forced to grow up too fast.

After the war during the inquisitions she had finally begun to understand some of the positions people on the other side had been in. Mistakes made by parents when they were young affected their whole family when the second wizarding war came around. Her classmates had been raised to believe the pure was better, that Slytherins were meant to act a certain way.

She supposed that even Harry had been faced with expectations the day he first stepped foot into Hogwarts, people had expected great things of him because of something that happened when he was just a baby. His future had been thrown at him. Any other witch or wizard _could_ have destroyed all the horcruxes and then killed Harry if necessary, she had no doubt that someone could justify the death of one innocent if it meant the end of the darkest wizard in recent history, if it meant saving so many other lives. Instead Harry Potter had been the focus of the attention and he had been fighting Voldemort since he was just twelve years old. A twelve year old boy with barely a clue about his wizarding background or the wizarding world taking on the Dark Lord that so many feared, how was that fair? Not that life was fair she supposed.

If life was fair then the prejudice that caused all that mess in the first place wouldn't exist. If life was fair there would be a lot more people here today.

Still, it didn't do to sit in sorrows for too long. You can reflect on it, remember it, learn from it but you should never live in the past. So Hermione went to bed.

The week went quickly and soon the castle was full of bustle as students were arriving and filling the great hall for the arrival feast. Hermione, Luna and Draco all had seats at the staff table to enforce their status to the students. Headmistress McGonagall had made it clear that she wanted the students to know that the three would be able to take away house points and assign detentions within reason, detention forms would have to be signed by another member of staff and they were only allowed to take a maximum of ten points per student at a time but the students needed to learn to respect them since in the next couple of years all three would be Professors.

"Something wrong?" Hermione asked Draco trying to hide her smile.

"How it that even allowed in public? It's disgusting." Draco muttered, referring to Professor Trelawney's unique table manners. "It makes me wish I was sat at the Slytherin table where I don't have a clear view of it."

"Just don't look." Hermione replied, trying her hardest to keep a straight face. "Luna is it weird sitting up here when your classmates are down there?"

"A little." Luna smiled. The two witches struck up conversation for most of the celebrations leaving the blonde wizard mostly sulking on the end of the table. Hermione reflected that it was much like a form Slytherin in that very spot, perhaps being miserable was a Slytherin trait too?

This became the pattern for most meal times even when Luna and Hermione did sometimes involve Draco in the conversation because they felt slightly guilty he never said much and generally seemed to prefer to sit in silence. In fact considering that they were both spending so much time working on potions they had managed to not run into each other at all so far and even though one of her two patrol shifts a week was at the same time as him she hadn't seen him then either...clearly he was doing a very good job of avoiding her as he promised.

That was until Sunday afternoon when Hermione went to finish the wolf's bane potion for Professor Lupin.

"Bugger!" a voice exclaimed from the potions workroom next to the potions classroom. Hermione stuck her head around the door, to find Draco swearing at a furiously bubbling potion.

"At least you didn't blow anything up." She piped up.

"Oh shut up Granger!" he snapped. She narrowed her eyes at him and entered the room to glance into his cauldron.

"At least it's salvageable..." she said, before heading towards her own cauldrons the other side of the room.

"Yes but it'll take a whole day to neutralise the damage and then I have to start today's changes all over again." He muttered. "I wanted it finished today."

"Well...you could substitute in a pinch of peppermint, I'm not sure how much exactly since I've never done it with this particular brew but if you did it a little at a time you could neutralise the reaction without having to go back and do anything again," She suggested, biting her lip. "but there is the risk that if you use too much peppermint you may have to start over completely."

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

"I'm bottling this for Professor Lupin then I'm finishing the burn salve." She replied.

"I'll do the burn salve then. You fix this." He said matter-of-factly, before marching over to one of her cauldrons to take over.

"I think there was a please and a thank you in there somewhere...or at least a question perhaps." She muttered, putting a stopper on the last bottle of wolf's bane before stomping over to his bubbling brew.

After about twenty minutes of brewing in silence Hermione had fixed Draco's potion and finished it and he had nearly finished hers also.

"Maybe Professor McGonagall didn't have such a bad idea when she suggested working together." Hermione observed. Draco's head snapped up instantly and glared at her.

"We are _not_ working together, we are _not _buddies Granger, got it?" he growled, stalking up to her until he was staring down at her threateningly.

"Seriously what is your problem Malfoy? I'm not implying we're best friends!" she retorted. A moment later he grabbed her arms and backed her forcefully against the workstation behind them, his fingers bit into her skin but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing that it hurt her.

"Just because we're not on opposite sides anymore doesn't mean we have to play nice got it?" he told her harshly. "So when I'm here you'd better not be and if you're here I'll do the same." He abruptly released her arms and turned away from her striding quickly from the room.

Hermione's hand fumbled to grasp the worktop behind her for support, for one moment he had terrified her. She had actually thought he'd hurt her, properly hurt her rather than just grab her arms too tight... After all his Aunt... She shook that thought from her head, there was no use thinking about that. She straightened herself and pushed away from the worktop to head back over to her cauldrons across the room. As she walked she noticed something that scared her more than Draco's threats; not only was her heart rapidly hammering away in her ribcage which was to be expected after a bit of a fright...but there was a damp feeling in her underwear that hadn't been there before.

She shuddered at the thought...surely not. She couldn't be attracted to Draco Malfoy, he was an arse! The more she thought about it and analysed it the less it made sense. She knew Draco was good looking enough, but she'd never been attracted to him since his horrid behaviour had kept him firmly in the arsehole category. So he was still horrid to her what was new? So why now did she feel so turned on? Was she going completely insane?!

The worst part was that as she set about finishing her burn salve and gathering it into jars Luna's words kept echoing in her head; "_someone who wasn't so safe"._ Insane, totally insane...she was over thinking this; she just needed to ignore it. Yes, that was the best course of action in this situation; ignorance...except Hermione Granger didn't like to be ignorant about anything.

Author's Notes: Another slow chapter I know but it's kind of necessary. Hopefully if I can get the chapters out quickly the good bits will be here soon enough.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone for the support so far, also a quick note to say that as this story goes on it will be more adult...so if any of you don't like that kind of thing you may want to stop reading before the story starts to heat up :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the books, films, characters or any other recognisable parts of the fandom nor do I make any money from this. My writings are purely for my own and hopefully your enjoyment so please feel free to review as well

Spontaneous Combustion

Chapter Three: Pieces of a puzzle

So Hermione started avoiding Draco Malfoy like the plague, which worked fine for him since he couldn't stand the sight of her either. The only catch with it was that every other week they had a rounds together two nights out of the week, one of which was tonight.

So after successfully managing to avoid both Draco and Ron for over a week Hermione was dreading seeing Draco tonight for rounds and Ron tomorrow in Hogsmeade. Wonderful...

When a knock sounded at her door she knew she couldn't put it off any longer and quickly pulled on her cloak before leaving her rooms to meet the irritated blonde stood outside in the hall.

"About time Granger." He hissed, as they started heading down the hall.

"Well you didn't have to meet me here, I could've come down to your rooms but you insisted." She replied indignantly.

"It would not be a good idea for Hermione sun shines out Potter's arse Granger to wander the dungeons alone." He snorted.

"Why not, after all that's happened you think the dungeons are going to scare me?" she frowned. Did he really think that after handling deatheaters, snatchers and dark wizards galore that a couple of students would be a problem?

"No, I think that there are quite a few angry students with either no parents or parents in Azkanban that might make some stupid mistakes if they came across you alone in the dungeons." He corrected.

"Like you?" she asked, as they waited for the staircase to move.

"No, I'm not that stupid. The war started before either of us were born, what happened in the battle wasn't your fault; at least not directly...all any of us could do was choose a side." He replied carefully.

"The difference is I chose the right see." She retorted as they began their round of the dungeon.

"Maybe, but not everyone is a Gryfindor. Maybe some people chose the side that they thought would keep them alive, maybe some people didn't have a choice." He replied.

"There's always a choice." She huffed. Silence fell between them for a while, they circled the dungeons and Draco quickly went into the Slytherin common room to check that before returning for them to finish their patrol. They found a couple in alcove getting overly amorous which earned each of the young offenders a detention but other than that the patrol was uneventful. They stopped at the top of the dungeon stairway.

"Not everyone was willing to die for a good cause Granger." He told her before they parted ways. "Slytherin students have been expected to hold to loyalties that were decided before they were born, that isn't their fault."

"No but surely they knew that killing innocent muggles and muggleborns was wrong? Even you, you hate me and you've never made that a secret but can you really tell me that it would be right for me to be murdered just because I happened to be born a witch?" she demanded.

"Not everyone _could _choose. Even if I were to admit that I was on the wrong side, my reasons for being on it are my own business and you don't need to be so bloody self righteous about it!" he snapped. "Goodnight."

With that he turned and left, leaving Hermione to make her way back to her rooms in thought. So Draco Malfoy knew he had chosen the wrong side? He knew the whole time that the Dark Lord was wrong... He was still an arrogant bastard and Hermione had no doubt that that had been no act but he had almost admitted that he knew full well he was on the wrong side...so why couldn't he have swapped sides?

She thought back to the final moments of battle when everyone had thought that Harry was dead, that all was lost... Draco had been called out, called to the Dark Lord as one of his followers and when she actually thought about it she could remember him hesitating; he didn't want to go, he actually looked down right terrified! So maybe Malfoy wasn't evil, he was still an arse.

"'Mione!" Hermione heard Ron's voice calling her before she'd even got through the Hog's Head door. She took a few deep breaths and slowly made her way over to the Weasley boy waving his arm in the air to get her attention. This was going to be awful...

She had been up late last night thinking about Ron and her problem and eventually only came up with one answer, she didn't love him romantically and doubted she ever would so it was only fair to let him try to find someone else who could. Then she had to spend hours planning how to say it and so far hadn't really decided on that, there wasn't really a good way to say it no matter which way she looked at it.

"Hey 'Mione!" Ron grinned, as she sat down opposite him. "Hey cheer up, nobody died."

"Ron, that's not very funny." She frowned; it wasn't the most sensitive of jokes to try so soon after the deaths of so many.

"Alright fine, but cheer up at least." He pouted.

"Ron I need to talk to you about something serious so...just please restrain your impulse to jump in as much as possible and listen to what I have to say please?" she asked him. He nodded slowly, clearly confused. "I'm not happy Ron, I mean...I am happy but something isn't working, something is missing..."

"Missing with-" he trailed off when she met his gaze, remembering her request to keep quiet.

"Me and you...I love you Ron and I want us to work but we just...don't." she said softly. "I love you as a friend, as a brother and as much as I wish it didn't...being in a romantic relationship with you just feels wrong."

"You don't mean that." He sighed. "We're good together 'Mione."

"We're good together yes, but we're not _great_ together. I can't love you the way a girlfriend should. You deserve better and I deserve better. Someone out there Ron will love you completely and utterly and you deserve to have that...but it isn't me, I'm sorry." By this time, Hermione had to blink to keep her tears in check.

"Why don't we just-" Ron stopped his words abruptly and shrugged. "I don't know...I want you to be happy is all."

"Oh Ron..." she sobbed, getting out of her seat and sitting next to him so she could wrap her arms around his waist and bury her face in his coat. "I _do_ care about you, I really do and you'll be my friend for the rest of my life...but I think forcing a relationship that isn't working could ruin our friendship forever and I don't want to lose you completely. I'd rather stop this right now while we can still salvage our friendship."

"You still want to be my friend?" he asked, hugging her back.

"Of course I do!" she exclaimed, looking up at him. "If that's what you want that is..."

"Forever." He murmured, squeezing her tightly. The two sat together for most of the afternoon enjoying each other's company before heading back towards Hogwarts. Hermione promised to join him at the burrow the following weekend for dinner with everyone like usual before he kissed her on the cheek and they parted ways.

"Urgh, those displays should be kept in private Granger." Draco called to her as she crossed the courtyard.

"There was no _display_!" she retorted. "It's called showing affection, sometimes friends do that you know...oh wait you wouldn't know."

"My friends tend to be male Granger, it'd look highly suspect for me to be kissing them goodbye. Besides Weaslebee isn't just a friend if he's been sticking it to you in your private quarters is he?" he smirked, following her inside.

"Firstly what I do in my private quarters is exactly that _private_, secondly Ron and I decided that we're better as friends so you can rest assured he isn't sticking it to me anywahere you arse." She snapped, marching off.

"I don't blame you! Even you're too good for Weaslebee, he's so clueless he probably still thinks babies are delivered by Hippogriff!" he laughed after her.

Hermione didn't stop her until she reached her room where she slammed the door closed and threw herself on the sofa in frustration. Why after all these years did she _still_ let Draco Malfoy get to her?! She wanted nothing more than to give him a good smack in the face...again.

A knock sounded at her door and she instantly dreaded Draco bothering her again, she wished he didn't know where her rooms even were.

"What?!" she snapped opening the door, she froze on seeing a different blonde at her doorstep. "Sorry Luna."

"I thought you might like some company." Luna said, not fazed by Hermione's bad mood in the slightest. "Ginny has homework to do but she'll be along later."

"Come on in." Hermione offered, opening her door to allow Luna in. "Sorry, I'm in a bit of a bad mood...I probably won't be great company."

"That's why I'm here of course; which one was it?" she asked, sitting down on the sofa.

"Which one was what?" Hermione asked, looking confused.

"That put you in a bad mood." She explained. "Was it Ron or Draco?"

"Draco, as usual." She frowned, wondering how Luna always knew these things. "It's nothing important; he was just sticking his nose where it doesn't belong."

"About Ron?" the younger witch enquired.

"Yes I suppose, but it didn't bother me what he was being nosey about it just bothered me that he was being nosey in the first place." She sighed. "I probably shouldn't have lowered myself to fight with him in full view of everyone since we're supposed to be staff but I was just tired."

"You know it seems to me that he mustn't hate you that much or he wouldn't be being nosey in the first place would he?" Luna said softly taking the tea Hermione offered and taking a small sip.

"Have you met Draco Malfoy lately? All he does is stick his nose in." Hermione snorted.

"Well if he hated you he wouldn't care about your business at all, maybe he's lonely?" she said thoughtfully. "Perhaps he fights with you because at least you're not afraid of him."

Hermione thought back to the incident in the potions lab, she had been afraid of him...she had been so shocked that she hadn't even fought back, she hadn't threatened him, hadn't reached for her wand...she had just frozen. In that moment she had definitely been afraid of him.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Notes:

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the books, films, characters or any other recognisable parts of the fandom nor do I make any money from this. My writings are purely for my own and hopefully your enjoyment so please feel free to review as well

Spontaneous Combustion

Chapter Four:

Hermione laughed as Ginny bent down to kiss the little kiss year boy on the cheek to release the mistletoe spell. The enchanted mistletoe at Christmas was now tradition, with first through fourth years only kiss on the cheek was required but with fifth through seventh and staff included it was a kiss on the lips to free you from the spell and allow you to move from under the mistletoe. It was strictly forbidden until the last day of term before the Christmas break though as students started getting stuck under it on purpose to skip classes. Ginny had been kissing poor first year boys all day to free them from the spell.

"Thanks." The boy said shyly, flushing heavily before dashing away down the corridor.

"That's the seventh one today." Ginny laughed.

"I think word got out that a seventh year girl was kissing first years to break the spell and that they're doing it on purpose." Hermione grinned.

"I doubt it, but still even it that were the case we'll never know either way will we?" Ginny chuckled. "It's not fair to leave poor little loners under the mistletoe all day because no one wants to kiss them"

"It's fair if they did it on purpose." Hermione countered.

"Are you sure you won't just come stay at the burrow with me?" Ginny asked, heading to the castle entrance. "It'll be fun..."

"No, I've got far too much to do. You know what I'm like and the burrow isn't really quiet enough for me to get much done." She replied. "I'll be over on Christmas eve though for a couple of days."

"I suppose if you're definitely going to be there for the important days..." the red head relented. "Don't work too hard; I'll see you next week." With that the two witches hugged and said their goodbyes before Ginny joined the other students that were leaving for the holidays.

Hermione took advantage of the holidays to go and borrow the book from the library again, she was going to find a solution to her sex problem...

Clearly the issue was with her because Ron seemed to be having no problems with his new girlfriend...well not from what Ginny had said seeing as how she had overheard them going at it one night. So the issue was her...and it wasn't that she was physically unable to enjoy herself since she had managed to bring herself to orgasm even if it did take rather a long time. So she needed to find some way of boosting her libido or something...

Unfortunately she didn't want to risk taking the book from the restricted section while Madam Pince was stayed at Hogwarts for the holidays as she would probably notice if a book were missing, so she would just have to sneak in and read it for a bit, maybe take some notes and then come back to do the same another day if she still needed to.

She disillusioned herself and darted into the library before ducking into the restricted section, it was dark in the library by now but she didn't bother with a lamp as she knew her way around and didn't want to draw any attention to herself. She found the book and then headed deeper into the restricted section until she found a suitable corner to hide in.

After a good hour of reading Hermione stopped to stretch her back out, sitting on the floor wasn't the most comfortable position to be in for so long. Suddenly she heard a click and then the shelves behind her back were gone sending her backwards. Luckily she had only been sitting so hadn't had far to fall but still she felt suitably ungracefull as she stared up at what appeared to be a hidden room.

"Bloody typical...sod off Granger." A voice muttered from somewhere nearby.

"Excuse me?" she huffed, sitting up and looking around her. The room was small, just big enough for a sofa and two chairs with a bit of floor space in between, she supposed it was a quiet room to read in and internally wished she had discovered it much sooner.

"I'm reading in here could you kindly sod off." He said.

"Well I didn't deliberately interrupt you." She replied.

"I could tell from the gracefull entrance." He smirked. "It's a secret room, it's for Professor's to use for research which is why it can't be found by anyone under the age of seventeen since I can see that that is what your brain is thinking."

"I was just thinking I wish I'd found it sooner." She admitted. "A quiet place to read is always a good thing."

"Interesting reading." He smirked, pointing to her forgotten book on the floor. "Still having trouble with Weasley?"

"It must have just fallen off of the shelf..." she protested innocently, but she could tell he didn't believe a word of it, especially since she had a pile of notes on it on her lap. "And I told you Ron and I aren't like that."

"So you are the one needing a...lubricating potion?" he laughed, lifting the book at the page it was opened to. "What _are_ you planning on using that for?"

"That would be none of your business!" she snapped, standing up and dusting herself off primly.

"Unless you were reading about the potion for-"

"That's enough!" she said, reaching to snatch back the book but missing. Draco turned another page and his eyebrows shot up.

"This book certainly is informative..." he mused. "Surprising that such a tight arse as yourself would even consider anything like this..."

"It was just for research." She protested.

"If you insist on raising your voice you might want to step far enough inside for the door to close, unless you want the entire castle to hear about the book you're reading..." he chuckled. Hermione made sighed and stepped further inside and sure enough the bookcase slid shut again closing off the room.

"Can you just give it back now?" she asked tiredly.

"Of course not, this is far too much fun." He grinned. "What on earth could have caused miss goodey goodey to be reading such a thing? Would it not be easier to get your kicks just reading some of the romantic trash they sell for witches?"

"Apparently not." She muttered under her breath, finally snatching the book from him and turning to the door to exit the room before an arm casually landed on the entrance blocking her way, she gasped in surprise at him being so close to her once again.

"Of course if you get on my nerves Granger, you know I'll be telling everyone about this." He said smugly before backing off to let her go.

Hermione didn't hesitate, she touched the back of the bookcase and it opened for her to leave before shutting behind her. She put the book back and swiftly made her way back to her room cursing her own bad luck.

She screamed into her pillow in frustration, Malfoy was going to hold this over her forever! He'd never get bored of it! It took her a moment to calm down enough to throw notions of giving up her apprenticeship and running from Hogwarts out the window but eventually she did and then got ready for bed dreading the morning coming the whole time.

She didn't hear from Malfoy again until her rounds that week during which he took great enjoyment in making innuendos to embarrass her and annoy her and then vanished the moment they were done.

The next day was the staff meeting, one of the many reasons Hermione hadn't gone to the burrow at the end of term. She sat next to Luna and Remus chatting until the Headmistress rose to speak.

"As you all know the last academic year was somewhat inconsistent with those that preceded it, we'd all like to pretend it never happened and so far this school year we have made significant progress in restoring the school to its former position as one of the finest wizarding schools in history." She began. "Needless to say there will be some staff changes in the next year also, we have three apprentices that are each going to be taking up their official posts next year, and of course Miss Lovegood will be beginning hers next term. There is also the question of Head of House positions. I need to step down as Gryfindor Head of House as my position as Headmistress demands and the only reason for me not doing so sooner was so that I could be sure this certain member of staff settled back into the school nicely; I would like to offer the position to Professor Lupin, if he is willing to accept it?"

All eyes settled on a surprised shaggy blonde head as he floundered for an answer.

"Are you completely sure that this is the wisest move, I am honoured of course but surely there is a better choice, especially given my condition." He replied, nodding his head to the witch on his left.

"Hermione is the yes the very definition of the house of Gryfindor and indeed very bright and wise beyond years...she isn't ready Remus, not to be a caretaker for groups of homesick students." Minerva said. "You have fought for good not once but twice and you are also a true Gryfindor and I believe that you would make a wonderful head of house." Hermione and Luna smiled encouragingly at him and Hermione nudged his side.

"In that case it would seem I have no choice but to accept." He grinned.

"Marvellous!" the headmistress clapped. "Now, we also need to discuss the replacements for Head of House's for Ravenclaw and Slytherin ready for the next school year to allow the new heads of houses to learn their duties in advance. Nominations please."

"Ravenclaw should be easy we have at least two wonderful choices, Professor Vector and Professor Sinistra would both make wonderful candidates don't you think?" Luna spoke up.

"If there are no more nominations for the position of Ravenclaw Head of house could you each write your chosen candidate on a piece of paper and place it in this bowl please?" Minerva asked, issuing them each with a piece of paper. "For Slytherin, I know you didn't want the position Rolanda but won't you reconsider?"

"I nominate Draco." Hermione said surprising even herself. She hadn't even thought about that before it just came out of her mouth.

"I agree with Hermione, he's very brave don't you think and he understands the Slytherin students very well...I think he'd make a fantastic Head of house." Luna agreed.

"I have to agree, I think it's a perfect example of the future we're aiming for." Remus spoke up. Draco at this point looked gobsmacked as both Horace Slughorn and Rolanda Hooch smacked him on the back.

"Thanks for volunteering lad!" Rolanda chuckled.

"I say congratulations boy!" Horace enthused.

"Well then, if the decision is pretty unanimous then well done Mr Malfoy, you will be taking over both of Horace's positions next year! I trust you to do us proud." Minerva spoke, before pointing to the bowl and lighting it. "I think you all know how this works. If you would all place your nominations in the bowl before this time tomorrow and then we will announce the winner."

The meeting was dismissed and everyone started leaving.

"Hermione, a word?"

Hermione nodded and stayed to speak with the Headmistress for a moment.

"I have to say I was most surprised by your nomination of Draco Malfoy for Slytherin Head of house." The older witch said, taking a seat and gesturing for Hermione to do the same. "I was under the impression that you too were still bickering." Hermione cringed slightly at the childish implication.

"We are." She admitted. "But that doesn't mean I don't think he'll do a good job. Luna was right, he understands the students and given the chance I think he'll be a good leader."

"You _will_ make an excellent head of house one day also Hermione, just wait and see."

Smiling and thanking her former Professor she exited the room herself and headed down the hallway until she heard a voice calling her.

"If you thought that was going to get you in my good books you're sadly mistaken." Draco's voice called as he came up behind her. Wonderful, he had waited outside just to confront her...because that made the whole thing less embarrassing...

"That wasn't why I did it." She replied. "I have no desire to _be_ in your good books, I don't care to be in any of your books at all actually I just thought you were the right person for the job and believe me I was as shocked as you are."

Unfortunately for Hermione her dramatic storm off was prematurely halted about ten paces later as she stuck to the spot. Groaning in annoyance she glanced upwards and the enchanted mistletoe taunting her. Spinning on the spot she turned and shouted at Draco.

"This is your fault! I _knew_ that that mistletoe was in this hallway but I was too busy storming away from you to think about it!" she shouted, frustrated beyond belief as Draco burst out laughing. "Stop laughing and just go find Remus or someone to help me please!" She was hoping he would for once in his life to the decent thing and since she said please would go and find someone to assist her, instead he of course continued to laugh from where he stood.

"Good heavens what is the shouting about?!" the Headmistress' voice suddenly interrupted.

"I'm stuck and this pain in my ar-backside won't go find someone to help me! He just keeps laughing!" Hermione explained, well aware that she sounded whiney. "I even said please to him!"

"Oh Draco just go kiss the poor girl so you can both go your separate ways." The older witch told him, trying not to smile.

"No!" Hermione protested. "I don't want his lips anywhere near me just please go find someone else! Anyone else!"

"Very well, if Mr Malfoy refuses to play Prince charming then _I_ will go and find Professor Lupin." She conceded, leaving Hermione stuck where she was and Draco still laughing where he was and sweeping down the hallway in search of assistance.

"Are you _sure_ you don't want me to kiss you?" Draco smirked. "After all you did say that you knew the mistletoe was here..."

"Oh shut up!" she snapped. Draco snickered to himself and stepped closer to her until he was close enough that she wished she could move just so that she could take a step backwards.

"Come on Granger, where is your sense of humour?" he asked.

"Gone!" she replied. Before leaning backwards uncomfortably, he was starting to scare her again only this time she couldn't run even if she wanted to. "Back off Draco or I'll hex you into next week."

"Are you afraid of me Granger?" he asked smirking. Before she could move he grabbed her hair and pulled her lips to meet his roughly and then they were gone again. "You should be." Then he backed off and left her stood in such a shocked state that she completely forgot to move even though the spell was broken.

So when the Headmistress returned with a chuckling Remus in tow she didn't bother telling them that Draco had already broken the spell, instead she stood there as Remus pecked her on the lips and pretended that Draco had just gotten bored of laughing and left her there. She thanked both Minerva and Remus and quickly made her way back to her rooms making sure to avoid any more mistletoe on the way.

She sat on her sofa deep in thought, Draco Malfoy scared her, something about him terrified her and she thought it had everything to do with the fact that he was dark enough inside to stand there watching her being tortured. However she suspected something very wrong inside her because from just that split second kiss her heart was pounding and her stomach tying itself in knots in a way that it never had with Ron no matter how hard she had tried... She groaned and buried her face in her hands; she was beginning to think that she was seriously fucked up.


End file.
